Humanist Literature as a Messenger of the Collective Memory and a Tool for Creating the Sense of Togetherness

Abstract

There is a permanent link between artistic works and the shared memory of cultural, religious or political communities. Our article deals with the connection that humanist literature had with the feeling of „togetherness“ in Albanian literature. The aim is to see how collective memory has been carried by the early literary works, if this has influenced the character of the Albanian humanist literature in the 16th century and if this kind of literature has motivated new communtiy’s ideas about themselves and the others. The article addresses the impact of literature in stimulating new linguistical, cultural and historical „belonging“ as a set of values, beliefs and behaviors. For this purpose, the works of the humanist authors: Marinus Barletius (alb: Marin Barleti) and Demetrius Francus (alb: Dhimiter Fran­gu) has been analysed. The article attemts to prove that humanist literature has been developed alongside with the sense of toget­herness and often turned into the motivator for epic deeds. So far, the humanist literature became the messenger for the epic deeds’ echo, influencing the character of ethnic, religious and cultural communities.